Improvement in hand-trucks



UNITED STATES NATHAN ADAMS, OF ALTOONA, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN HAND-TRUCKS.

Specication forming part of Letters Patent No. 169,883, dated November16, 1875; application led May 3, 1875.

To all 'whom lit may concern:

Be it known that I, NATHAN ADAMS, of Altoona, in the county of Blair andState of Pennsylvania, have inventeda Grappling Attachment forHand-Trucks, of which the following is a specification My invention isan attachment to the handtruck for which Letters Patent were granted to'me December 9, 1873, and numbered 145,268.

It consists of a pair of tongs connected with the front of the truck insuch a manner as to automatically grapple arod, bar, or other article,such as heavy forgings, axles, Snc., for the purpose of carrying it. Alever, whose fulcrum-pin is connected with the tongue ot' the truck, hasa joint-connection with the tongs, and serves the purpose of openingtheir jaws Ato disconnect them from their load. The ful- Crum-pin issplit, so as to be quickly disengaged from or connected with the truck,and the tongs are provided with loop-holes, which connect withprojections at the front of the truck. By these means the tongs arequickly detached from the truck when ithas to be used for carrying otherkinds of loads to which they are not adapted, and they are expeditiouslyattached when their use is again required.

ln the accompanying drawings, Figure l is side elevation of a truck withmy improvement attached. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same. Fig. 3is a plan view.

all the gures Like letters of reference in indicate the same parts.

A represents a truck constructed according to my patent above referredto, the hook for holding the .load being removed, as it is dispensedwith when the present attachment is in use. B B are tongs, connectedtogether by means of the joint-pin a. They each have pair of loop-holesb b, which connect with rests c c that project from the front of thetruck. The lower loop-holes are used, as represented in the drawings,when the article to be carried Yis of small or medium size, and theupper holes for loads of larger dimensions. G is a lever, which has aVsplit or spring iulcrum-pin, d, that is held by the jaws oi' the tongueD. The front end of the lever has a loop-hole, f, through which the yokeE is passed, and connected at its ends with the joint-pin a of thetongs. The truck-axle F is curved upward to be out of the way oftheload. The jaws g g of the tongs are connected with the bar G by raisingthe rear end ofthe tongue D until the ends of the jaws g g hear againstthe upperside ot' the bar G, whereby they are opened, and, by thefurther raising of the tongue, they are passed over the bar and grappleit as the rear end of the tongue is lowered. For unloading the bar thejaws ot the tongs are spread apart by bearing the handle It ot the leverC backward.

l claim as my inventionl. The tongs B B, having loop-holes b, incombination with the truck, having rests c c, substantially as and forthe purpose set forth.

2. The combination of the lever (J, with the tongue D and tongs B B, fordischarging the load, substantially as set forth.

, NATHAN ADAMS. Witnesses:

L RENNER, WM. T. HOWARD.

PATENT OEEIcE.

